My name is Ivy Westfall. I am sixteen years old and a traitor. Three months ago, I was forced to marry the president's son, Bishop Lattimer-as all daughters of the losing side of the war are sold off in marriage to the sons of the winners. But I was different. I had a mission-to kill Bishop.

Instead, I fell in love with him.

Now I am an outcast, left to survive the brutal savagery of the lands outside of civilization. Yet even out here, there is hope. There is life beyond the fence. But I can't outrun my past. For my actions have set off a treasonous chain of events in Westfall that will change all of our fates--especially Bishop's.

And this time, it is not enough to just survive...

Debating THE REVOLUTION OF IVY

Andye: So, I was super disappointed with THE REVOLUTION OF IVY. Becca: I really liked it! haha

Andye: Ok, first I’ll start with the things, or I should say the PERSON, who redeemed this book for me. And that, of course, is Bishop.

He is seriously one of the best book boys ever written.

Becca: I basically agree with that statement 110%. Bishop is BAE (I feel weird saying that, because I’m old), but if there was a BAE in Becca’s life, it is definitely Bishop Lattimer. *Le sigh*

I really felt like the whole story started off with a bang, though. I mean, right away we see how rough Ivy has it out beyond the fence. Those first few pages remind me of the recent Walking Dead episode, where Enid eats that turtle! If you have a squeamish stomach, well…… you might want to take something to help with that before you read, because HOLY CRAPOLI THE GORE IS INTENSE.

Andye: Oooh! Yes! I thought about The Walking Dead also (that poor turtle)!! I actually thought about it often while reading this book. Not that there are zombies or anything, but the world seemed very similar. And yes! That opener was intense!

Becca: That poor turtle killed me in TWD, but having to read about her doing that to an animal rather than watching it was brutal for me. Haha I could never, ever do that. Let alone eat it RAW! BLECH! I did compare a lot to TWD while reading as well, but I think there needed to be a bit more world building for ‘outside the wall’. Ivy talks some about how the world ended and everything was bombed, but we didn’t really get to see much of the aftermath, which was a bit of a bummer for me.

Andye: Yeah, there definitely could’ve been a little more on that front. I did like the idea of them having to learn how to survive in the wild, after living inside the fence all their lives. It could’ve been really awesome.

But then…

Ivy happened.

Becca: Hahaha, what did Ivy do to upset you? I liked her…..until she started being a butt to bae, and also when she wanted to go back? SERIOUSLY? Screw those people, in my humble opinion.

Andye: What upset me about Ivy? How much time do you have?

In a nutshell: Ivy is a complete idiot. Too harsh?

I cannot even begin to describe how much she pissed me off in this book. First of all, when Mark does THAT to her and she doesn’t finish him off? Dumb. But ok, I get that it’s hard to actually commit murder. BUT STILL! At least cut his . . . ahem . . .off! Don’t just leave him free to go off and do it to someone else - or you - again! UGH!

THEN, she lets him LIVE IN CAMP WITH HER AND LITTLE CHILDREN?? Are you freaking kidding me? Just because she doesn’t want people to find out she’s a Lattimer? How selfish can you be?? No. I can’t.

Becca: His...ahem? Hahaha. Yeah, I’ll admit she was pretty stupid about all of that jazz. I was SMH at all of those things. It doesn’t make a bit of sense, no matter how hard she tried to make it seem like it was the ‘right’ thing to do. I find it kind of weird that their society has executions for breaking & entering, but puts a child molester out ‘beyond the fence’? That makes absolutely ZERO sense.

Andye: I totally agree with that. Little inconsistencies like that really bugged me throughout the book. Like when the community finds out about Mark and what he did to that girl, and to Ivy, don’t you think the parents, at least, would be a touch PISSED OFF that she let that piece of crap be around their children?

Becca: Yeah, I was pissed off on their behalf. I don’t understand how she could just sit there and let him be around all of those children, and be okay with it. Yeah, she ‘confronted’ him about it, but it’s not like that little threat was ever going to make a difference to a complete MONSTER like him.

Andye: Exactly. And who knows what he did when she wasn’t looking! I mean seriously! If I was a mom there, I would’ve beat Ivy to a pulp.

B: I kind of feel like this book is one of those that you read in a day, but don’t think too hard on it, ya know? If you try to question everything, it ruins the whole story. It’s like a daytime soap that you watch for a guilty pleasure.

A: That is true. I did read the book really quickly. Obviously the writing is good, but I think that when something pisses me off in a book, I tend to get more and more critical, and start noticing things that I would’ve otherwise let go.

B: Andye, you’re making me question why I put 5 stars on this one hahahaha

A: Haha, sorry, not sorry! I’m not done with Ivy-bashing. But I’ll save it for later. heehee

B: I really loved the new characters though. Caleb took awhile to grow on me, but I instantly loved Ash.

A: Yeah, I really liked the new characters too. I wish there were more characters in the community that were fleshed out a bit, but Caleb and Ash were awesome. I have to say it weirded me out a bit when she talked about Caleb and his “walks” with girls. I was like . . . is he a creeper? Is he secretly burying them in the woods? But, no. I guess I was just waiting for something terrible to happen. And I never knew if there was going to be a thing between Caleb and Ivy, but again, probably just me. haha

B: At the beginning, I kind of questioned if they were going to get together, but if that happened, I was going to be PISSED. I am so over love triangles. But yeah, the ‘walks’ thing was kind of weird. The way Ash said it instead of saying what it actually was made her seem younger than her age, even though Ivy had said she seemed older for her age.

A: The way Caleb took care of Ash, though!! Love.

B: YES! The family dynamic between them was adorable. I do agree about seeing more from the community. I don’t even remember any of the other people’s names. Fail. Haha.

A: They were pretty one-dimensional. I mean, clearly they didn’t even care about a child-molester being allowed in camp.

B: And yet, they killed those two guys that they randomly found in the forest. I think they need to get better with their rules. Either go hard or go easy. In a world like that, you can’t afford to be wishy-washy.

A: Yeah, I was confused about that too. Did those guys do something? Did I miss that?

B: All I know that they did was discuss breaking into the camp and taking supplies/food, but they never clarified that they were talking about their camp, so they could’ve been planning to ambush someone else. I don’t know. I think they jumped to a conclusion way too quick. They went full-on Rick Grimes on those guys.

A: Bahaha, omg yes.

B: I mean, it’s not like they were WOLVES. Then, I’d be like ‘heck yes!’ But they were just people trying to survive just like they were. True, they could’ve been bad, but I think they should’ve been given a second chance since this book really seemed to dwell on second chances.

A: So true. I agree with that whole statement. But that goes along with the inconsistencies that I kept running into.

Ok, I’m going back to why Ivy made me want to punch her in the throat.

Can we talk about the way she treated Bishop when she finally saw him again!!!???

B: I try not to think about that, because Bishop is really my boyfriend, and it doesn’t matter how she treated him, because he knows who really loves him? Psst. It’s me.

A: Bahaha! Ok, so Ivy was just trying to push him to who he really belongs with (you). I guess I’ll forgive her since you guys are made for each other.

B: EXACTLY. But for real, I didn’t understand that either. You love him, but you don’t want to look at him. You care about him, but you don’t want to talk. You don’t want to lose him, but you are pushing him away and being a total bee-keeper. Makes total sense.

A: Bee-keeper! heehee! Yeah, I guess I see where the author was TRYING to go with that . . . Ivy is afraid Bishop will betray her or whatever. She can’t trust anyone, blah, blah. But, again, that doesn’t stop her from trying to have a relationship with her sister and dad. Only with the guy who’s actually been AWESOME IN EVERY WAY.

B: I get what the author was TRYING to do. HOWEVER, I think it went on entirely way too long. I was looking forward to the KISSY scenes, but I had to wade through all the crap that Ivy was pulling to get to maybe two hot scenes. I don’t know. It went on too long, and then it was wrapped up too sweetly.

A: Yep, yep, yep. Exactly! But, when they DID kiss . . .

B: Yeah, that made me insanely jealous.

A: Hahahaha!

B: I think this book is worth reading if you want some really fan-yourself worthy moments, without going full on harlequin romance. Just don’t read into the world-building inconsistencies, because then it will ruin it for you. Hahah.

A: Yeah, I’m actually still glad I read this one (actually I listened to it), even though it totally frustrated me. It was a quick read, and I did really like book one. Plus, I got more Bishop. Just, like you said, take it at face-value. Don’t look too deep.

B: Agree, agree. I remember really enjoying the first one. So many bloggers were blowing up the twitter-verse and ultimately made me go buy it. But I think if someone were to drag out reading this over a few days, it might not live up to expectations. This is a book that needs to be read quickly, that way you just don’t think and don’t really digest what’s going on until after. Because I really enjoyed it until I sat down, and started thinking about all the things that should’ve gotten to me WHILE I was reading. I’m glad I didn’t though, because I was able to focus more on Bishop. Haha.

A: Haha, oops! Sorry for ruining it for you :/

I was obviously thinking too much about it. Maybe because I was listening to it? (The audio was pretty decent.) If you look at my Goodreads updates, you can see I was NOT HAPPY. Ultimately I did end up giving it 3 stars, though, because I do really love Bishop. It was a quick, easy-to-read, never get bored story.

B: Haha, you so didn’t ruin it for me. Bishop made it worth reading! So read these books, if you’re in the search for a new book boyfriend*

*But back off, because Bishop truly is mine.

Well, there you have it! What about you? Have you read The Revolution of Ivy? What did you think? Let us know, down below!